Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Testify! -- A Newspaper Column

I
am in Grade 11; one of my classmates turns to me and says, somewhat
derisively, “do you go to church?”. Sensing that to say yes
would open myself to ridicule, I hesitate and stammer out a “No”
– at which he laughs saying “Yes you do”.

Do
you go to Church? Why? What do you believe? For many people these
are hard questions to answer. It has long been said that the only
topics not appropriate for public discussion are Sex, Politics, and
Religion – with the reality being that Sex and Politics are
becoming more and more acceptable. But still there is a sense that
Religion should not be discussed.

And
yet, we are called and encouraged to share our faith. If we truly
believe that we have found a way to experience the presence of God in
our lives, if we truly believe that we have found the path that leads
to abundant life why is it so hard to share?

Part
of the answer, for some of us, is that we have an image of how
sharing our faith happens. In our mind we see the street corner
preacher, or the person at the party who aggressively asks, “Do you
know the LORD?” and we know that we would never be caught dead
doing that. But that is only one way to share testimony, to share
our faith (and many of us would argue that it is a highly ineffective
method at that).

I
would argue that most of us would be most comfortable sharing our
faith in the context of a pre-existing relationship. Where there is
a level of trust between people we are more willing to share what is
important to us. And it may not be in the interest of converting the
other to our point of view. In fact I would suggest that simply
sharing where we are at and allowing others to share where they are
at is the most effective way of giving testimony. When we accept
each other without trying to convert then we can move the discussion
deeper – and I believe that is why we share our faith (this
attitude is needed in other areas of life than faith, say politics
for example).

There
are other ways we give our testimony. Earlier this month the
General Council of the United Church (this is our National Body,
which meets every 3 years) met to discuss the life and work of the
United Church of Canada. As a part of that meeting there were
multiple examples of testimony. The Commissioners shone the light of
faith on questions around the Northern Gateway pipeline, Oilsands
expansion, our relationships with Aboriginal and First Nations
people, how we as a church can push for a just peace in Israel and
Palestine, gossip, and a variety of other topics. While there is
great debate within the church and within the wider society on all of
these questions making a statement, any statement, is a form of
testimony. They are ways we talk about how our faith interacts with
the world around us.

Testimony
happens in fun ways too. Check out this video:
http://tinyurl.com/9shbzmw.
A group of teens and young adults on Parliament Hill dancing to the
song “Testify to Love”. I have no doubt that this event was seen
as a way to raise up a different way of living in the world. This
was Testimony to the difference it makes to take seriously the words
“love your neighbour as yourself”. We don't have to be solemn
and serious when we share the wonders of our faith. In fact, I would
suggest that if we find joy in our faith then that joy should replace
the solemn and the serious more often. Sadly this is not how many
people see the Church. What does that say about our testimony thus
far?

St.
Francis of Assisi is reported to have said “Preach the Gospel at
all times and when necessary use words.” and also “It is no use
walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”.
The Saint implies that our greatest testimony is how we live our
lives. The best way we show people the difference faith makes in our
lives is by living it out. What does our lifestyle say about our
priorities? How do we treat others? Do our actions show that we
have allowed ourselves to be changed by the love of God? Do we, as
people of faith, make others think that maybe faith makes a
difference in life? This is our testimony, this is the testimony we
make every day.

So
how do you testify? How do you share what is important in your life?
If someone asked you to share your faith, what would you say?